Tag Archives: Man vs Machine

Against the Machine

Posted on October 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

At some point during college, I tried to work out what an ideal human society might look like. This was back when I still strongly identified with the left,  but my dreams were not of a world state and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

The Every

Posted on November 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Every© 2021 Dave Eggers608 pages Nearly ten years ago, Dave Eggers published The Circle,   about the rise of an uber-corporation whose products had transformed not only the digital world, but were beginning to shape society as well.  Think … Continue reading →

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Doctorow duo on digital rights activism

Posted on June 2, 2022 by smellincoffee

I recently read two short titles by Cory Doctorow, a SF author and internet freedom activist. For  at least the last twenty years, Cory Doctorow has been thinking about the future of intellectual property, copyright, and the open internet. He … Continue reading →

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Optimal

Posted on May 23, 2022 by smellincoffee

Optimal© 2020 J.M. Berger355 pages Jack has known nothing but the System his entire life.  He rises when it tells him to, he dresses in the outfit its algorithms choose for him, he follows prompts to a selected diner and … Continue reading →

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The Warehouse

Posted on September 5, 2021 by smellincoffee

Paxton used to be a man with a promising idea, one that was flourishing in the market — but then The Cloud said “Lower your prices”. The Cloud wasn’t the voice of God, floating in the heavens — but it … Continue reading →

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Broadcast

Posted on August 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

Broadcast© 2017 Liam Brown288 pages Most people, if approached by a corporation and asked for permission to plant a microchip in their brainstem, would say “Nope” and back away from the crazy man. But David Callow isn’t most people: he’s … Continue reading →

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The Circle

Posted on September 9, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Circle 2013 Dave Eggers 507 pages Sharing is Caring. Privacy is Theft. Secrets are Lies. Imagine an internet transformed by a company  so innovative and ambitious that it had swallowed Facebook, Google, etc. whole.  It began with TruYou, a … Continue reading →

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Future Crimes

Posted on January 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Future Crimes; Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable, and What We Can Do About ItPaperback subtitle: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World © 2015 Marc Goodman608 pages “It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to … Continue reading →

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The Internet Police

Posted on February 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Internet Police: How Crime Went Online (and the Cops Followed)© 2014 Nate Anderson 310 pages  Not since the steam engine has the world been so utterly transformed than by the Internet. Originally a military network, it is now infrastructure, undergirding modern life … Continue reading →

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Player Piano

Posted on November 6, 2014 by smellincoffee

Player Piano© 1952 Kurt Vonnegut352 pages “I’d be in exile now, but everywhere’s the same…”      Not since the roaring twenties was American society so giddily obsessed with newfangled stuff than in the 1950s.  Americans were awash in material prosperity, … Continue reading →

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